Private fundraising event for McHenry County Board Democratic candidates to build a farm team

Early Friday afternoon, a private fundraising event is taking place that is hosted by The Farm Team PAC.

The PAC was formally launched two weeks ago, is an Illinois registered political committee chaired by Congresswoman Lauren Underwood and its purpose is to build a farm team among state and local Democratic candidates.

The PAC was formally registered in early 2019, but launched last month with Underwood making endorsements of 14 candidates.

Given the relatively modest monies in the PAC as of the end of 2019, the Democrats endorsed by The Farm Team PAC can basically use Congresswoman Underwood’s name as an endorsement.

The 14 endorsements include Democrats running unopposed in the primary later this month, but also includes candidates in contested races, including the high profile primary to replace Will County Executive Larry Walsh, who’s not seeking reelection.

Per the invite for today’s event, District 6 Democratic challengers Nancy Glissman and Larry Spaeth are two charter members of Underwood’s Farm Team.

Locally, Underwood is staying neutral in the contested Democratic primaries in the 63rd and 66th state House districts.

In the contested 65th district primary, Underwood’s new PAC is backing Martha Paschke over Kane County Board Member Mo Iqbal.

Of the seven counties with portions within the 14th district, The Farm Team PAC is backing candidates in six of them, with only DuPage County being left out.

In addition to the 63rd and 66th district races, some high profile contested Democratic primaries, like the open seat races for Kane County Board Chairman and Kane County State’s Attorney, Underwood has not endorsed any of the Democrats.

But given the launch of The Farm Team PAC, Underwood clearly is digging in to build a ground game within the current 14th district by building a team of Underwood loyalists to be running mates in the general election.

Should Underwood win reelection in November, no matter what the new 14th district looks like after redistricting next year, her PAC will be ready to support down ballot candidates, including in contested primaries.

External link:

• The Farm Team PAC: https://www.farmteampac.com/